By Chance
by SkimmonsFan
Summary: Jemma and Skye have something they don't like. It is just by chance that they meet and soon learn that it is each other that make it okay.


Jemma was being dragged by six dogs along the beach. Two of them small and four big. Since it was early in the morning, there was only a small crowd of runners on the beach. Jemma greeted them all as she did every morning. This time however, there was one person that stood out that she never seen before. She had on tight running shorts, a sports bra, and her hair in a finely combed pony tail. Jemma became mesmerized and did not notice she was staring. The girl caught the look and smiled…

* * *

"Are you absolutely positive that you can't get me a part-time job there, Fitz?" Jemma asked while watching Fitz put on his apron and cap to complete his uniform.

"Jemma, not this again. I told you, the boss said we no longer need any help. Besides, you already have a part-time job." Fitz responded getting ready to leave the apartment.

Jemma leaned back on the sofa and pouted. "It depends on what you would define as a _job. _Walking dogs for our neighbors is not exactly an ideal everyday job."

Fitz walked from the kitchen to sit on the couch where Jemma was. "I know that you don't like walking the dogs, but we both agreed that we need a second job. Our catering services aren't getting as much clients as we thought so this is what we have to do."

Jemma and Fitz have been friends since they were kids and all throughout school. It was no doubt that they were going to be going to the same college. They were accepted to the Shield Academy and decided to get a two bedroom apartment together. Although they got full rides for school, keeping up the payments for their apartment has been rather difficult. Given their foreign background, cooking different types of foods was a huge part of them. When they opened up their catering services, they expected more of a client base, but since it wasn't, they decided it would be best to hold a steady part-time job. Fitz immediately got a job working at the local coffee shop just down the street from the apartment. Jemma's neighbors always asked her to watch their dogs. However, when they heard of her financial struggles, they offered to pay her to not only watch the dogs, but walk them.

"I guess you are right, Fitz. Will you at least do me one other favor?" Jemma smirked raising an eyebrow.

Fitz stood from the couch because he really needed to go before he would be late. "Name it, Jemma."

"Will you give me a free iced coffee when we get to your work?" She asked in a hopeful voice.

"Sure, what the hell."

* * *

"Have a nice run?" Ward questioned as he saw Skye entering the house.

"It was… definitely pleasant." Skye said with a smile remembering the girl with dogs.

"Okay, what do you think?" Ward asked looking at Skye.

Skye stared at Ward who was wearing a button up shirt and a tie. "I guess it is better than that apron and cap I seen you wearing the other day when you picked me up from the airport."

Ward smiled and headed to the kitchen counter to grab his name tag to put it on his shirt. "Yeah. I guess being manager of the coffee shop has its perks. Especially since it pays an extra two dollars an hour."

Skye smiled and nodded her head. "Oh yeah, you're just living the American Dream out _here_."

Ward went to sit on the empty stool that was next to Skye. "Come on. Living _here _is not so bad. Besides this is the only other college that accepted you after what happened at the Rising Tide Academy."

Skye and Ward met during their seventh to twelfth grade years. Both were surprised at how fast they became friends. Although the Shield Academy is where they both originally wanted to go, Skye found out about the Rising Tide Academy which has the best reputation for computers (Hacking). However, Skye made one mistake that got her kicked out and decided to move back and live with Ward. It may not sound so bad, but Skye never really liked California. She wanted to escape all the bad memories she had there with all those terrible foster homes.

"Well who would have thought that a school that promotes hacking, would mind if I went in and changed some of my grades. I think their just jealous because I did it in less than a minute." Skye scoffed.

"Sounds like you could use a nice, big cup of coffee." Ward suggested nudging Skye in the arm. Skye formed a half smile on her face. "Come on, Skye. It will be on me. What do you say?"

Skye rolled her eyes and scooted herself off the chair. "I say, I have to go put on some proper clothes and then I will meet you there."

Ward grinned and also got up from his stool. He grabbed his keys and headed for the door. "Okay. I will see you later then, grumpy."

* * *

"Alright, how heavy am I going on the ice?" Fit asked Jemma with the almost finished coffee in his hands.

"It's pretty hot out today, so _pack on the ice_." She giggled at her statement.

"Your right with that, Simmons. It is pretty hot out today." Ward entered the coffee shop and was trying to air out his fancy button up shirt.

Jemma looked up and down at his attire. "Wow Ward, what made you decide to dress up all fancy today?"

"He is the new manager, Jemma." Fitz answered as he finished putting in the ice.

Jemma opened her mouth in shock and raised an eyebrow. "What? Then why exactly can't you hire me? I thought we were friends ever since I helped you with that biology assignment in class our first week of college."

Ward went behind the counter shaking his head. He looked at Jemma with a mischievous grin. "We are friends, Simmons. But, we just don't need that much help around here. I'm sorry. And hey I got you two some clients for your catering business tonight. Remember that?"

Jemma forgot about that for a moment. Ward had mentioned to them a week prior that his Dad was finally tying the knot with his girlfriend of many years. They were throwing a last minute engagement party and needed caterers.

"Yeah, I guess you did hook us up with that." Jemma couldn't help the grin that was tugging at her lips even though she wanted to look upset.

Fitz handed over the coffee and turned to face Ward. "And we really appreciate it. Jemma and I finished most of the food last night but-"

"But I still have a couple more finishing touches to do." Jemma smiled at the two of them.

Ward returned the smile and let out a small sigh of relief. "Thanks again guys. I know it was super last minute, but my dad and I really appreciate it."

The chime from the door opening filled the small shop. Jemma stood straighter to grab her coffee to head out since she figured that customers are most definitely going to be packing in now. "No problem, I will see the two of you lat—"

All Jemma can see is her coffee on the floor and her now empty cup. She looked up only to see the clothes of another person that was now dripping with her coffee.

"Oh my goodness! I am extremely sorry." Jemma turned and frantically grabbed a wad of napkins from the counter.

"No, really it's fine." Said the voice of a young women.

Jemma thought the voice sounded like an angel. As much as she wanted to reminisce on that fact, she proceeded with going to blot the other woman's shirt with the napkins.

The other woman grabbed Jemma's hands. "Hey, it's fine. I promise. I'm just glad it was iced coffee and not hot coffee."

Jemma looked up at the girl's face. This was the same girl she had seen this morning. Jemma couldn't help but smile and stare. The girl also returned the smile by pursing her lips before a small grin formed. They seemed to both be taking in each other's beauty before Jemma came to her senses and broke the silence.

"Um, here." Jemma handed over the wad of napkins.

The girl grabbed the napkins and smiled. "Thanks."

"Ahem." Ward cleared his throat to finally break up what seemed to him, an awkward situation. Both girl's turned to Ward and he smiled. "Jemma Simmons, this is-"

"Again I'm-I'm really sorry. I have to go." Jemma said quickly and left before anyone could say anything further.

Ward frowned and looked at Fitz. "Why did she leave? I was just going to introduce her to Skye." He motioned his eyes at the girl who was looking at the doorway smiling, still dripping with coffee.

Skye turned back around, breaking her gaze from the doorway. "Hello, you must be, um, Leo Fitz. Right?" she said as she placed her hand out.

Fitz returned the gesture by grabbing her hand and giving it a light shake. "Yup. That's me. I guess Ward has mentioned us?"

Skye smiled and crooked her head at Ward. "He may have mentioned the two of you once or twice. He is extremely grateful about the food services that you guys do. He says that you guys are great cooks."

Fitz nodded happily. "Well, yeah. Jemma is the one who should get all the credit. She is a whiz in the kitchen. But, she obviously needs work when it comes to her clumsiness." He pointed at the damp clothes on Skye.

Skye looked down and continued to blot the wet areas. "Yeah, I guess so. But, I mean- she was cute about it." Skye stared blankly forward and smiled.

Fitz and Ward looked at each other for a moment both raising their eyebrows in unison. "Then I guess you won't mind coming to the engagement party tonight?" Ward asked snapping his fingers at Skye to break her from her gaze.

"Yeah. Jemma will be there. This will be a chance for the two of you to meet more _properly." _Fitz said wiggling his eyebrows at both Ward and Skye.

Skye went red with embarrassment and Ward gave him a high five.

* * *

Fitz was frantically running around the kitchen trying to keep up with Jemma. "Jemma will you just listen to me? She didn't mind that you spilled coffee all over her. Besides she is a friend of—"

"Fitz, please! I do not want to remember the events from earlier. I will most likely never see her again…. Which is a good thing… so will you just finish putting the food on the platter and give it to the waitresses?" Jemma responded motioning her eyes to the many waitresses waiting for the food to be placed on platters.

Fitz rolled his eyes and started placing the food on platters. "Jemma, if you will just listen to me then you would know that that girl is friends with—"

Jemma brushed passed him and gave platters to the waitresses and they all went out to provide their guests with the appetizers. Jemma turned with her platter and looked at Fitz. "Just let it go Fitz. Now come on. We have a job to do."

Fitz rolled his eyes and grabbed the platter he was just working on. He followed his friend out the door to do their job. When passing out the food, the many guests were giving both Fitz and Jemma compliments. With their luck, a lot of them asked if they were free in the near future to do some of their parties. They reluctantly agreed and it seemed that for Jemma, that night could not get any better.

"Guys! Come here. I want to introduce you to my dad and future step mom." Ward screamed from across the room to Jemma and Fitz. They both arrived with their platters in hand. "This is my dad Phil, and my future step mom Melinda. Guys, these are some good friends of mine from school, Jemma Simmons and Leo Fitz."

Phil and Melinda both smiled even wider than they already were. "Thank you both so much for the last minute catering." Phil said patting them both on the back. "Yes, thank you. I told him earlier that we needed to find a catering service, but you know men. Everything is last minute." Melinda proclaimed winking at Jemma.

Fitz smiled at them both. "We are definitely glad that you guys like the food. Well, at least we hope you do."

"Are you kidding…?" Ward chimed in, "…This food is incredible. I had a platter to myself earlier."

"So did he." Melinda said poking Phil in the stomach.

Jemma let out a small sigh of relief. "Thank you so much. Definitely glad you enjoyed it…" she looked down at her platter which was almost empty, "….but if you will excuse me. My platter needs refilling."

They all smiled and nodded reassuring her that it was okay to leave. She was rushing back to the kitchen so she could provide more food to their hosts. When she turned the corner to get to the kitchen she felt a bump and the platter went crashing to the floor. The small amount of food that was left over from the platter was spread out in a mess on the ground.

"Oh my god. I am so sorry." The familiar voice spoke. The women leaned down to begin picking up the food and place it on the platter. Jemma also leaned down to help.

"It's okay really. I'm just glad it did not get on me." Jemma said trying to avoid looking up just in case it was this mysterious women she spilled coffee on earlier.

The women looked up and saw that it was Jemma. "We really have to stop meeting like this."

Jemma looked up as well. Although she was embarrassed it was this girl, she at the same time was thrilled. "I'm just glad that it was you making the mess this time and not me." They both giggled and proceeded to pick up the food. When they got up Jemma once again found herself staring. She was wearing a tightly formed black dress that stopped just above the knee.

"Jemma? Are you okay?" The woman waved her hand in Jemma's face.

She broke her gaze and felt a blush creeping up her neck. "Yeah. I'm fi-… How do you know my name?"

"Oh yeah. I'm Skye, a friend of Ward. He was going to introduce us earlier, but you kind of left…in a hurry." Skye finished placing a lock of hair behind her ear and looking at the ground.

'That's what Fitz wanted to get off his chest'. Jemma was mentally cursing at herself. "Sorry about that I was just, I…," she thought about lying and making up an excuse, but she just decided to be honest. "…I was embarrassed."

Skye moved a little closer to Jemma and placed a hand on her shoulder. "It's okay. I promise. I didn't mind in the least bit."

If the blush that was creeping upwas not there before, it definitely is now. They both stayed like this for a couple seconds before Skye realized she had her hand on her for too long.

She hesitated to remove it and stepped back. "I um… I am definitely the embarrassed one now. I really am sorry—about the food on the floor."

Jemma leaned forward and replicated Skye movement of placing her hand on her shoulder. "I's okay. I didn't mind in the least bit." She finished with a wink.

Skye hesitated to say something when Ward and Fitz appeared behind them. "There you are, I was getting worried." Fitz said looking at Jemma.

"Yeah, I was getting worried that you got lost or something Skye. Why are you so la—"Ward stopped what he was saying to stare at the hand that was on Skye's shoulder. "Sorry. Did we interrupt something?"

Jemma furrowed her eyebrow in confusion before she realized what he meant. She quickly moved her hand off of Skye and stepped back. "No, don't be silly." Jemma scoffed at Ward.

"Okay if you say so. Listen, my parents said that they no longer want the two best caterers in town to be working during this event. There is enough food out there so grab a drink and mingle." Ward nudged Fitz in the arm and winked at Jemma.

Despite their constant comments of refutes, they agreed to _mingle. _It was nice for the both of them. Fitz and Jemma managed to get to know the story of the engagement. Danced to a couple of songs with Ward and had their own food. Which they could definitely understand why people liked it. One thing that Fitz and Ward noticed however is that Jemma and Skye got to talk a lot during the party. Fitz saw that little gesture Jemma does with her hands and hair when she is nervous. Ward had seen Skye blush more than once during their conversations. Neither one of those things for both girls happen very often. It was decided by Fitz and Ward that they both like each other.

* * *

"Will you just call her?" Ward protested at Skye. They were both sitting on the couch the next morning.

Skye clenched her jaw and let out a sigh. "I feel like it is too soon though. I know we exchanged numbers last night, but that does not automatically mean she likes me Ward."

"Believe me, she likes you. Fitz may or may not have confirmed that." He made a mischievous look before nudging her arm. "Just call her. Make a date."

Skye let out a huge breath before standing with confidence. "Okay. Here I go."

* * *

"Jemma! Your cell phone is ringing." Fitz shouted from the kitchen stool. He grabbed the phone and seen the name. "Oh! It's Skye." He finished with a large grin.

Jemma rushed out from her bedroom to grab the phone. She stared at it for a couple seconds. "Ugh, I don't know what to say though."

Fitz rolled his eyes. "How about hello. Hi. How are you?"

Jemma returned the eye roll. "Yeah but I—too late. Voicemail."

* * *

"Oh god! It's her voicemail. What do I do?" Skye said panicked looking at Ward.

Ward grinned before responding. "Just leave a… flirtatious message."

*Beep*

Skye hesitated. "Ugh. Hi Jemma. It's Skye. Well of course you know that… Caller Id. *awkward chuckle*…" Ward was waving his hand mouthing for her to flirt. "…I was just wondering if you wanted to help walk my dog sometime."

Wards eyes got huge and he put his head in his hands. He was embarrassed for her.

"Skye! You do not have a dog." He whispered at her.

"Well no actually, I don't have a dog…. Maybe you could walk me sometime?" Skye said into the phone.

Ward face palmed. "Just stop. Stop. Ask her for coffee and call it a day." He said annoyed at her.

"Forget that. Bad joke. I-I - maybe we could go for coffee sometime. Ugh I got to go so call me back when you get this. I um, kay bye." Skye hung up the phone and sat on the couch. She grabbed a pillow and screamed. She peeped out her head to look at Ward. "It wasn't that bad was it?"

Ward turned his head away. "Believe me, you do not want to know the answer."

* * *

"Fitz stop laughing!" Jemma said punching Fitz in the shoulder.

Fitz rubbed the spot and tried to put his laughing aside. "I'm sorry. It's just she said, _maybe you could walk me sometime._"

Jemma let out a sigh. "She was just nervous or something. She's probably embarrassed. I will call her tomorrow that way she has the day to get over it."

Fitz nodded in agreement. "Hey I agree. I would want a day to pull myself together after that voicemail."

* * *

The next morning Jemma went to the beach with the six dogs she had to walk. As normal, they were dragging her across the sand.

"Hey!" A voice said from behind Jemma.

Jemma turned around to see Skye standing there with two cups of coffee in her hands. "Oh. Hello, Skye."

Skye rocked on her heels for a couple of moments. "I just figured… Well you never called me back about coffee so I figured I'd bring it to you." She handed one coffee over to Jemma.

Jemma happily took it and looked down in shame. "Yeah sorry about that. I just figured after you left that voice- I thought maybe you needed time to—"

Skye dismissively waved her hand. "Hey no. I understand what you are getting at. And thanks. I definitely did not want to leave that type of voicemail. It's just, well I- Jemma I like yo-OW!"

Jemma looked down to see that one of the dogs had bitten Skye in the leg. "Oh my god! Skye! Are you okay?"

Skye really wanted to just cry right there from the pain, but Jemma was there and she wanted to be tough. "Um, yeah. Yeah. I'm good. Great actually. I just…," Skye looked down at her leg. "… Okay wow. That's blood. I hate blood." She got queasy and started to lose her balance.

Jemma caught her wrapping one arm around her and placed all the leashes in one hand. "Okay come on. I have a first-aid kit back at the apartment."

Before entering the apartment, Jemma managed to successfully, and quickly, return all the dogs and keep Skye from passing out. She felt rather proud of herself. She got Skye to sit on the sofa, propping up the wounded leg on the coffee table. Jemma rushed to the next bedroom to find the first-aid kit.

Skye looked at her surroundings. "This is a really cute little place you got here!" She shouted so Jemma could hear.

Jemma returned from the bedroom, first-aid kit in hand. She sat on the coffee table next to Skye. "Oh thanks. It's a little small, but Fitz and I manage. Now, let's take a look at this." Jemma examined the wound on Skye's leg.

Skye leaned forward and made a face. "Please tell me I do not need stiches?"

Jemma laughed. "No. I don't think it is that bad. However, it is deep enough to leave a scar." Jemma grabbed some soap and water. "Okay this might sting a little."

Skye waved her hand and chuckled. "Nonsense. I don't think soap and water will sting—OW!" Skye shouted not even realizing that she had grabbed Jemma's hand. They both just stared at their hands before Jemma tried to take it away. Skye stopped this by entwining their fingers. Skye made a flirtatious grin at her.

Jemma had her mouth hanging open in shock. "Did- Did you know that new studies have shown that soap and copius water irrigation actually clean more bacteria from the wound than anything else. Which is why you will not find one bottle of peroxide in this—"

Skye placed a finger over Jemma's mouth and shushed her. "Jemma! Do me a favor and just kiss me already."

Jemma smiled. "I was literally just going to suggest—"

Skye placed a hand around the curve of Jemma's neck and tugged her in for a kiss. Jemma placed a hand in Skye's hair and pulled her closer to deepen the kiss. In this moment, Skye thought that just by chance, she may like living here after all. Whereas Jemma thought, just by chance, her part-time job is not too bad. After all, it helped her to kiss the girl.


End file.
